May 2, 2014
In his brilliant book, Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Uraguayan author Eduardo Galeano writes of Pelé:
“Those of us who were lucky enough to see him play received alms of an extraordinary beauty: moments so worthy of immortality that they make us believe immortality exists.”
When I was ten years old in the early 1960s, I was fortunate to see Pelé in his prime. It was an exhibition game in New York, and Pelé was playing for his club, Santos. At one point he electrified the crowd, which was mostly immigrants since soccer had not yet become widely popular among US-born people, by scoring a goal with a bicycle kick over his own head. I still get chills thinking about that moment. Maybe Galeano was right.
That luminous moment fifty years ago was, in a way, a spark for the creation of World Cup Mouse.
Thank you, Senor Pelé!
Leave a Reply